Video of Obama’s Address to NAS Now Available

President Barack Obama reiterated his strong support for science and technology in a speech to members of the National Academy of Sciences at its 150th annual meeting April 29, 2013. Science, technology, engineering, and medicine are critical to the nation's prosperity, Obama said, noting that investments made today are bound to pay off for many years to come.

President Obama made an impassioned plea to ensure that the nation's young people continue to maintain their spirit of discovery and receive strong educations in STEM. "We don't want our kids just to be consumers of the amazing things that science generates," Obama said. "We want them to be producers as well. We've got to make sure we're supporting that next generation of dreamers and risk takers."

President Obama is the only president to address the National Academy of Sciences' annual gatherings of members twice; he also spoke at the 2009 NAS annual meeting. Other presidents who have addressed the NAS include George H.W. Bush in 1990, John F. Kennedy, who spoke at the NAS Centennial Convocation in 1963 and at the NAS annual meeting in 1961, Jimmy Carter in 1979, and Calvin Coolidge in 1924.